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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23251573">The Choices We Make</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Charlie9646/pseuds/Charlie9646'>Charlie9646</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Angst, Depression, F/M, HEA, Loss, Single Parents</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-03-21</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-03-21</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-01 16:14:37</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,465</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23251573</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Charlie9646/pseuds/Charlie9646</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>This fic was written for Weasleys, Witches, &amp; Writers Facebook group’s Flash Comp. My chosen main character is Bill Weasley, and the prompt for this Edition was Careers.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Nymphadora Tonks/Bill Weasley, past Bill Weasley/Fleur Delacour, past Remus Lupin/Nymhadora Tonks</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>Weasleys Writing War - Flash Comp Edt 2</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>The Choices We Make</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">



        <li>In response to a prompt by
            <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/WeasleysWitchesWriters/pseuds/WeasleysWitchesWriters">WeasleysWitchesWriters</a>  in the  <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/collections/WeasleysWritingWar_FlashCompEdt2">WeasleysWritingWar_FlashCompEdt2</a>
          collection.
        </li>
    </ul><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>I do not own anything in the Harry Potter universe. I want to thank my Alpha/Beta, who shall remain nameless for now, for their work on this story.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>”Life is a matter of choices, and every choice you make makes you.” John C. Maxwell</p><p> </p><p>For as long as Bill Weasley could remember, he had wanted to be a curse breaker. Something about the magic, the twisting, the changing, and being able to make a difference. Sometimes though, he wondered if he had made the right choice; his parents were both proud of him, even going so far to visit him in Egypt all those years ago. But sometimes Bill still questioned the decisions that led him here today/to this moment.</p><p> </p><p>Bill lit some kindling and threw it into the fireplace. The logs quickly caught under the flames, making the room far warmer. He sat back down in his armchair and reached for his paperwork. Fleur was dead, a blood curse of all things. There was nothing more pathetic than the curse breaker who couldn't save the person he loved from a curse. It was heart-wrenching that she was gone - it felt as if someone had ripped out his heart, stomped on it, and then kicked it a few times for good measure.</p><p> </p><p>Bill read the same paragraph for a third time before giving up. There was no point of wasting a pleasant evening reading something that could wait till tomorrow. All he wanted to do right now was get good and drunk; maybe that made him a bad person, but in this moment with the pain wrapped around his shoulders like a cloak, he did not care. Bill took a sip of the fire whiskey in his glass, savouring the burn, because at least it was something that made him feel alive.</p><p> </p><p>                   </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>Bill woke up to someone banging loudly on his door, the sound echoed in his head like some sort of bloody gong. He realised as soon as he opened his eyes that he had fallen asleep in his chair. It didn't matter much: he had been sleeping in the uncomfortable guest bed anyway - avoiding the master bedroom as if it housed some sort of viper. </p><p> </p><p>It did in a way, though the viper was memories, not actual snakes. </p><p> </p><p>“I’m coming, hold your bloody Hippogriffs!” He shouted at the unknown person. Bill tripped on the way to the door, slamming his foot into the end table. “Bloody hell.” His head felt like it was going to split open as he slowly opened the door. Light streamed into his dingy sitting room. Squinting in the morning light, he stared into the face of his childhood friend, Tonks.</p><p> </p><p>She looked older than the last time Bill saw her, lines around her eyes and a sadness in them not unlike his own. ”Hello, Bill.” </p><p> </p><p>”Hi, Tonks.” He said to her, ”I missed you.”</p><p> </p><p>”And I missed you too, Bill. Life has just been kind of a mess these last few years.”</p><p> </p><p>”Same.” There was a time Bill wanted to marry that girl, the girl with the bright pink hair and the crooked grin. Who thought pranks were funny and would laugh at herself when she tripped over her own two feet. Long ago they were something, but now they weren't even friends. </p><p> </p><p>”I need your help, well Teddy does.” Tonks cried. ”Something to do with his father being a Werewolf. A curse, and you're the only one I knew I could trust!”</p><p> </p><p>If Bill were smart, he would have told her to find someone else; he might have even shut the door in her face. Goblins didn't like werewolves - they barely tolerated <em> him </em>- but this was Tonks, and Teddy was Remus’s son. Even if he lost his job for helping them, he would. Because no matter how much Bill had changed over the years, he was still a Gryffindor. He was loyal, and he hoped, a good friend. </p><p> </p><p>”Come inside, Tonks so we can talk this over.” Bill muttered, ”We don't need some gossiping ninny sticking her nose in our conversation.” He tugged on his too-long wild red hair; Bill knew it needed a trim, but couldn't be bothered to care. Fleur used to... No, he thought, he wouldn’t think of such things - not now anyway.</p><p> </p><p>The witch joined him in the warm but dimly lit cottage. Bill went back to his chair as Tonks cleared off the couch as best as she could. </p><p> </p><p>”I should offer you some tea, shouldn't I?” Bill asked. His hand went back to tug at his mess of hair.</p><p> </p><p>”I would rather just get on with it, Bill, but that's just me,” Tonks muttered. ”Where should we start?”</p><p> </p><p>“I think I know the curse that’s on Teddy, Tonks,” Bill said as he lit a cigarette. </p><p> </p><p>“Must you do that?” Tonks asked, her nose wrinkled. “And please stop playing games and just spit it out.”</p><p> </p><p>”Yes, I must.” Bill said, ”It was a curse put on Greyback to make sure he didn't reproduce. I wouldn’t be shocked, the bite as well as blood can transfer it. From what I have heard, it makes the child get sicker and sicker over time. Till they...”</p><p> </p><p>“Till they die,” she whispered. “ Please don’t lie to me, Bill. What can we do for him?”</p><p> </p><p>“I need to research a few things, but I’ll owl you when I have an idea.” Bill replied, “And I’ll also clean up since I think it would be best to work here.” </p><p> </p><p>“Bill, please take care of yourself.” Tonks did something that shocked Bill: she walked over to him and kissed his forehead,  ”Remember you do have friends out there who want to help you. From someone who's been there? You can't just stop living. If you need to talk, I’m here.” </p><p> </p><p>           </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>It had taken weeks for Bill to find the answer. This was the hardest part of being a curse breaker and dealing with the people and their loved ones of those under the curse. It was why he preferred to stick with cursed objects - not people. </p><p> </p><p>Nevertheless, he had an answer, so he owled Tonks. The woman was going to have two choices - someone else could blood adopt Teddy, or they could do nothing. The ministry had cursed Greyback’s DNA all those years ago, and he had passed it along to all those he changed. Maybe Remus had known it in a way, or perhaps he had not. </p><p> </p><p>There was nothing that could be done about it either way. </p><p> </p><p>Tonks with her bright pink hair and a tentative smile stood before him: she was likely hoping for good news, and who would blame her? Teddy, even with the brilliant blue hair, looked quite a bit like Remus, Bill’s mentor of sorts. The man had taught him how to live with his affliction. </p><p> </p><p>But Bill had chosen this job - being a curse breaker - above all others. He could have worked for the ministry like his brother and father; he could have become an Auror, or a Quidditch player, or anything else, but when it came down to it he became a curse breaker and that meant helping people when they thought all hope was lost. He sighed and spoke the words that could shatter the two people in front of him, “The only way to save Teddy is for him to become someone else’s son. The curse is tied to the DNA he inherited from Remus.”</p><p> </p><p>Bill expected Tonks to lash out at him, to scream, to beg that there had to be another way. Instead she threw her arms around him and cried, “Thank Merlin, Bill, thank Merlin. I feared with how you were behaving that there was nothing you could do. The way you sounded in your letter scared me.”</p><p> </p><p>“Are you hearing me, Tonks?” Bill asked her, “I mean it will cure him, but it will also take so much more?.”</p><p> </p><p>Her eyes narrowed, “Willam Weasley! I know you might not be able to understand this, but blood matters little to me. It also mattered little to Remus. Harry was family to him even if they weren’t related by blood.” She added, “Bellatrix Lestrange is related to me by blood and she sure isn’t family. If Remus was here? He would tell you the same thing I am.”</p><p> </p><p>“You’re right Tonks,” Bill said, “I’ll work on the potion this evening, and we can owl each other about who should blood adopt Teddy.”</p><p> </p><p>Tonks nodded, but then told Teddy to wait outside. She then said to Bill, “Would you?” </p><p> </p><p>“Me?” </p><p> </p><p>“Yes, you.”</p><p> </p><p>“Why?” Bill challenged.</p><p> </p><p>“Because Bill you are my friend. And well you know how people feel about Werewolves - and you're not affected are you?” Tonks asked him. </p><p> </p><p>“I’m not,” He reached out to her and said, “I’ll get to work on the potion. Come back tomorrow and I’ll have it ready.”</p><p> </p><p>“Thank you, Bill,” she kissed his cheek, leaving him standing there dumbstruck. </p><p>   </p><p><br/>
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